The present invention relates to an automatic release camera wherein a shutter is released based on the sound pressure level of an inputted voice.
There are many chances for photographing in a banquet or a party, and it is rather troublesome for a photographer to walk to and fro for photographing in the midst of a dinner party, and in addition to that, the photographer himself does not have any chance to be photographed. In this connection, if there is available a camera that senses a shutter chance and releases a shutter automatically, such a camera is very convenient and it can make all persons present at a banquet or a party including the photographer enjoy an atmosphere.
When considering the situation in which such a camera is used, the best photograph may be obtained if a shutter of the camera is released at the climax of the banquet or the party. Therefore, one way to be considered is to make the camera catch a laughing voice, a shout of joy, a handclap or cheers in the climax of the banquet, for example, and release a shutter. In case of a conventional voice-recognition camera, however, it senses only a specific voice. Therefore, it can not release a shutter by catching such a voice in the climax as mentioned above.
The inventors of the invention, therefore, proposed an automatic release camera in Japanese Patent Application No. 329184/1988 wherein a shutter is released when the voice pressure level of an inputted voice is detected and the detected voice pressure level keeps to be higher than a reference value for a predetermined period. According to the camera, it is possible to make the camera release a shutter automatically responding to the laughing voice in a banquet or a party without responding to a crashing sound. Thus it is possible to get the best photograph, since the shutter is released in the climax of a party or at the moment of enjoyment.
In the aforesaid camera, however, the occasion when a voice pressure level higher than a reference value lasts for a predetermined period it is not only the case of a laughing voice, a shout of joy and a handclap in the climax of a banquet but also the case when people give a shout of `Get me a bottle of beer!`, `Get me an ashtray!` or `Hey!` in the banquet. Therefore, the camera mentioned above has a problem that a shutter may also be released on the occasion other than the case when the banquet reaches its climax or the pleasure arrives at its utmost.